7 days in hell
by SilverandRed
Summary: Chiro gets hit with a poison arrow and only SK has the antidote. Antauri must be SK's pet for seven whole days in order to save Chiro's life.
1. Chiro gets hit!

Skater: Sup?

Chiro: Do you want me to KILL YOU?

Skater: If you can do it painlessly, than yes.

Chiro: You're crazy.

Skater: You should know that by now.

Chiro: Shaddup.

Skater: Please review!

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The alarm blared noisily, flooding the dark hallway of the robot with red light. Sprx sat up groggily, rubbing his eyes. He yawned and reluctantly ran to the Command Center, only to find his comrades already there. Until this day, he couldn't figure out how the kid could wake up so early at 3am in the morning. Chiro once told him that he was more of a morning person, but Sprx highly doubted that for some reason.

"Alright team, Shuggazoom is under attack in Sectors 6, 4, and 11. We don't need the robot, so we'll split up. Antauri and I will go to sector 4, Sprx and Nova will go to sector 6, Gibson and Otto will go to sector eleven. We'll meet at Shuggazoom Square in an hour. Monkeys, mobilize!"

Chiro's voice shattered the red simian's thoughts in pieces. All the monkeys ran out, except him. He wasn't exactly paying attention to his leader.

"Sprx, hurry up!" Nova called out. The red monkey ran out and flew to his sector.

'Right, Skeleton King is attacking, we will win like always, and then we'll just go back to bed. Nothing bad will happen.' Sprx thought.

_If only he knew what was going to happen to Chiro._

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_Antauri's POV_

I was flying, and then… I just stopped. A feeling, a strange one, was bothering me for a long time now. Something told me not to let Chiro go to this battle.

"Chiro," I grabbed his wrist. "I really don't think you should go. Just let me handle it. Go back to the robot,"

"Antauri, Shuggazoom needs us. I'm not going to just sit there and watch. I'm going," Chiro replied firmly, determined to fight. "I didn't train for nothing, ya know,"

Before I could respond, he broke free of my grip. I couldn't stop him. When Chiro makes his mind up, there's no stopping him, no matter how hard you try. So I thought I was paranoid and dismissed the feeling.

_If only I knew, if only I could stop him… If only…_

"Look there."

Chiro flew down and I followed. There were less than a dozen formless. I frowned. Something wasn't right here. Usually, SK would send 300-400 formless to attack the city. The formless I was seeing right now were also not well equipped.

"Let's go," I said.

We landed on the ground and were ready to attack when Mandarin appeared. There was something in his hand, but I couldn't see it clearly. There was no light in the park, but I could make out an outline of an arrow and bow.

"Attack," Mandarin ordered. The formless charged forward and Chiro dodged like an expert fighter. I destroyed some of them. Then I heard an explosion. Chiro had formless pinned on his back. Formless held me too, to stop me from moving.

Then Mandarin did it. He shot my son with a poison arrow.


	2. The deal

Skater: Hi! I'm rushing so if I make spelling errors, please forgive me.

Chiro: And please review!

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Antauri's POV

My first feeling was anger. With a push, the formless around me was destroyed when they hit the floor. I tackled Mandarin down and attacked.

"Ghost claw attack!"

He blocked himself with the shield and pulled himself free.

"You will need me sooner than you think," he said, smirking. "I will offer you something that you cannot reject,"

The orange monkey disappeared into a portal. I turned to Chiro. Then guilt washed over me. Guilt for not protecting him. Guilt for not stopping Chiro to go fight formless. There's only one thing left to do.

"Antauri to Gibson," I said, activating my ear. "Do you read?"

"I read Antauri. Where are you?"

"I need you to come to sector 4 now."

Knowing that something was wrong, he hung up. I picked up the arrow and sighed with relief. Mandarin had not given Chiro the full dosage. Who knows what will happen if he did. Chiro's leg was bleeding profusely. I took off his scarf and tied a bandage around his leg. It won't stop bleeding, but at least it will slow it down.

"Antauri... I'm so cold..." he whispered.

"Shh... Its okay, Chiro. Gibson's coming soon."

"Sorry for not listening,"

"You have no reason to be sorry,"

"I have every reason to be sorry,"

Before I could answer, Gibson came. The blue monkey gasped and I handed him the arrow. He examined it closely and frowned.

"Let's go," he said.

I carried Chiro while he whimpered. He was still scared of heights if he wasn't flying himself. He closed his eyes and tried not to look down.

"You don't have to afraid. I'll be with you no matter what," I assured.

"Thanks, Tauri."

I continued to fly to the robot. When I reached the sick bay, I tried to lay Chiro on the table as gently as possible. He was shivering all over, and his forehead felt warm. Extremely warm_. He's running a fever, _I thought. _The effect was already taking place. _Gibson took the thermometer and placed it in his mouth. He waited for it to beep and my assumption was right. Chiro had a fever.

"I need everyone to go out now," he ordered.

The others walked out and I also left reluctantly. Chiro watched me with disappointed eyes. I shot a small smile at him and mouthed 'Don't be afraid.'

While we were waiting, Otto was pacing up and down. Nova's face was full of worry.

"How could you let him get shot?" Sprx asked me. Another wave of guilt washed past me.

"Just shaddup, Sprx," Nova ordered.

The red monkey gave me an angry glare. He was right. Why did I let Chiro get injured? How could I? I mentally scolded myself for hours. A good five minutes later, Gibson emerged from the lab.

"Sorry, Antauri," he apologised. "I couldn't do anything. He's only got eight days to live."

"What?" Nova said. She looked like she was about to bury Gibson alive.

"I couldn't find an antidote. There's only one in the world."

"And where is it?" I asked, urging Gibson to go on.

"I... I don't know,"

"It's with me,"

Mandarin appeared in the room. He looked as evil as ever. He held up a bottle with purple liquid.

"In exchange for the antidote, I want Antauri to be Master's pet for seven days," he said. "Chiro will be saved if Antauri agrees,"

Everyone stared at me. I nodded.

"That is a deal," I said.

"But Antauri! Chiro needs you more than anything in the world right now!" Nova said.

"Gibson, create a hologram. I'll be back, I promise,"

And with that, I went to the citadel with Mandarin.


	3. Antauri 2, the replacement

Skater: Hi! It's good to be back!

Chiro: Where the devil were you?

Skater: In my room, doing homework.

Chiro:… Anyway, please review! :D

Skater: Yep! I plan to get at least three reviews for the next chapter, so I can tell my friends 'I told you so!' Please please please review!

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_In the robot:_

_Chiro's POV_

I felt weak all over. My throat was raw and burning. I felt cold… colder than that time when I was marked and turned into a ghost. Gibson just left the room. He thought I was sleeping. Well, he thought wrong. Then I heard some noises outside. Then I heard someone talking. It sounded like Mandarin. I couldn't be sure. The voices were muffled. Then… silence. I wanted to know what was going on. Where's Antauri? Getting out of the bed, I stood up. A wave of dizziness swept over me. I groaned and held my head. It was burning, as if I stood under the sun for 24 hours straight without sweating. Slowly, but steadily, I staggered out of the sick bay as silent as an elephant running through the forest. The others saw me. Antauri was nowhere in sight. I whimpered in disappointment silently.

"Chiro, you should go to sleep," Nova said. "You need some rest."

"Where's Antauri?" I asked.

"Antauri…?" Otto said. "Oh, he… err… went to get lunch."

"Lunch?" I raised an eyebrow, a skill I took a long time to master.

"Yea. He'll be back later. We'll tell you when he gets back." the green monkey replied, playing with his hands nervously. Much as he hated lying to his leader, he had to cook up a story fast. If Chiro learnt the truth, who knows what might happen to the poor teen. He might have a mental breakdown, or worse. He might try to commit suicide or do something extremely stupid to himself. (Ok, this is not Chiro's POV)

(Now its Chiro's POV) "Go to bed, kid. We'll wake you up when Antauri's back, ok?" Sprx said, holding my hand. He accompanied me to my cozy room and tucked me in. Sprx left shortly after that.

_Antauri! You promised to be with me after the surgery. It hurt a lot and… and I was really looking forward to hear you tell me the story about how Shuggazoom's past heroes deal with villains. You promised me…_

That was the last thought before I drifted off to sleep.

**Gibson's POV**

"Let's get to work, Otto, quickly." I ordered. The green monkey nodded and we both ran to the lab.

"A hologram isn't good enough, Gibson. We need a perfect replica of Antauri, not a hologram,"

"Where are we going to get another silver monkey?" I asked impatiently.

"Here," Otto replied, opening a drawer. "I built another one the week after Antauri was reborn. I wanted to see the silver monkey's system cuz it was so advanced. Then I decided to test myself to see if I knew Antauri's systems well enough, so I made an exact replica of the silver monkey."

I sighed. Otto was full of surprises, and you never know what that green monkey is up to until he tells you.

"We've got the body, but we don't have the soul," Otto said softly, thinking.

"That's nothing to worry about. We've just got to transfer Antauri's memory into the silver monkey you built. Since Antauri is now fully mechanical, we've got a memory chip of the silver monkey in the computer," I paused, typing in the password. A box popped out, and I pressed a red button. It slowly unfolded itself and there was a small microchip inside it. "As I was saying, this chip contains Antauri's memory. So, when inserted in the brain, this silver monkey will act exactly like our second-in-command. Got it?"

Otto tilted his head in confusion.

"But Antauri's not an ordinary machine. He moves with his own will. His soul is inside the silver monkey the Alchemist created. Anything could go wrong with the silver monkey I built. Electricity is not enough to boot up the silver monkey. We need the Power Primate."

I shook my head.

"No, we don't need the Power Primate. We just need a computer chip, a body and electricity. If Chiro can bring Antauri to life the first time, so can we." I declared.

Otto looked uncomfortable. Who could blame that guy? I was uncomfortable myself too. Nobody spoke for a while.

"Ok," he said at last. "Let's go for it."

I smiled. Together, we worked for three hours, trying to boot up the second silver monkey. Finally, pupils started appearing in the blue optical sensors.

"Mission accomplished." Otto grinned.

The second silver monkey stood up.

"You are now Antauri, the second in command of the team." Otto said.

The silver monkey nodded (I'll name him Antauri 2).

"Where's Chiro?" he asked worriedly.

Otto and I grinned at each other. The mission was certainly accomplished.

_But little did we know that Antauri 2 was actually a servant of SK._


	4. Welcome to hell, pet

Skater: Hi!

Chiro: You still have a lot of homework to do.

Skater: Who cares? Please review!

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**Nova's POV**

Chiro's condition seemed to get worse every day. The monkey team stood by him but Antauri's replacement didn't seem like Antauri at all. He usually asked all of us to go out so he could stay with Chiro but when we left, Chiro screamed. We rushed inside, but the silver monkey didn't seem to do anything out of the ordinary. I would usually deactivate Antauri's replacement, but somehow, he always got activated again. Fuming mad, I would ask who activated him, but none of the monkey team members admitted it. They would just shrug and shake their heads. I stayed with Chiro during night time, and he would usually wake up screaming Antauri's name. His face would usually be covered in cold sweat and his skin would be hot. Very hot. The teen was always shivering with cold. Gibson could only give him some medicine to ease the pain, but none of them would cure him completely. I could only watch Chiro live his last few days in agony, my heart secretly praying that Antauri would come back with the antidote soon.

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**Antauri's POV**

The first thing I saw was flames. They licked the walls and cackled. Somehow, when Mandarin walked past, they _made way_ so the orange monkey wouldn't be burnt. I followed him, hoping that Mandarin was telling the truth when he said that he would give me the antidote after spending seven days in hell. The only question is: Will I live these seven days?

We walked through a pathway and reached the end. Mandarin placed his paw on a well camouflaged machine and we entered. SK was waiting for me, grinning. Mandarin bowed politely while I watched in disgust. SK treated all his slaves like they were nothing- and yet, they were still loyal to him.

"My lord, here is the silver monkey, as you asked." Mandarin said.

"Well done, Mandarin. Go back to the Citadel of Bone and create more formless. I'll leave them in your hands."

Nodding, the orange monkey slowly got up and left. I glared at the evil undead lord. He, in return, pulled out a diamond-like device. It was small and red, with black metal outlining it.

"This," SK said, holding up the diamond proudly, "is my own invention. You will have it on at all costs during these seven days. It means that you belong to me now. And when you misbehave,"-his eyes narrowed-"you will suffer from any kind of punishment that I can think up of. It could be anything, including killing Chiro."

My eyes widened at that. He couldn't kill the Chosen One, he wouldn't… would he? Of course he would, what was I thinking? The diamond shaped device floated up and sharp spikes came out from it. The spikes pierced itself through my torso. I was now a pet of Skeleton King, and he owned me.

"Here are the rules:

You will now address me by 'master' or 'lord'.

You shall not hurt me. As I've mentioned before, if you do, I'll give you the worst possible punishment.

The master's word is law. You must not disobey me and do exactly as I say. And I don't care if you like it or not.

You will receive a slip of paper of your schedule. Follow it exactly and do not be late for the first chore that you have to do.

You will be loyal to me and you are NOT allowed to communicate with the monkey team. If you do, your precious Chosen One will suffer more."

I nodded. I have to do this no matter what. Chiro's fate depends on me now…

"This is your room," SK got out of his throne and led me to a room full of dust and cobwebs. It looked ancient with a small bed by the left corner. He grinned, pushing me inside.

"Don't try to escape because you can't escape from hell without the death lord's permission. Now get some sleep because we've got a busy day tomorrow," He said. "Welcome home, pet."

I coughed because of the dust. He slammed the door behind me, leaving me alone.


	5. Reality or lie?

Skater: I am so sorry for not updating cos the Prelim examinations kept me busy, and I've also secretly watching Death Note from twelve until six in the morning!

Chiro: Don't you sleep?

Skater: I stay awake all the time. I hate sleeping, and the only way to keep myself from falling asleep is eating the worst food that ever existed.

Chiro: And that is…?

Skater: LEMONS (or lime)! Anyway, back to the story.

Chiro: Please review!

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Chiro's POV

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The day was awful. It dragged on and on, and I could not even get out of bed to get myself a glass of milk or water. Truth to tell, I was so weak that I couldn't even scream. At two in the afternoon, Sprx and Otto would come in with video games and we would play together. They plan to beat me by working together, but I always won. Well, at least that made up my day. Seven days left… if I really had a week left in this world, I plan to make them as memorable as possible so I at least have my memories with me when I go to heaven (or hell). Just the other day, I heard Gibson and Nova talking about some kind of antidote or something. And they also talked about hell. I shuddered just at the thought of hell. People say that hell is a place that you would suffer forever but never die. There are all sorts of punishments that I will not name because the list of punishments is at least a mile long. However, humans have never, ever been to hell or heaven, so what do they know? They could be predicting or assuming for all I care. And as we all know, predictions and assumptions (sometimes) are never 100% correct.

"Can I come in?"

A knock, a voice, it's all so familiar. The daily routine, the typical schedule. I know that the monkey team really cared for me, but it was all so boring.

"Yea, sure, come in." I answered.

And there was Nova, carrying in a tray of food. She frowned deeply, the sort of motherly frown when they find their child doing something wrong.

"Am I really going to die?" I asked, studying her expression.

A pause, an awkward silence between us. Really, it's getting on my nerves. The frown deepened and I gulped, only to wince a little cos my throat felt like it was burning.

"…No."

The answer was simple, of course, but the meaning behind it meant a lot to me. _I mean, how could Nova be so sure that I wasn't going to die?_ The gold simian must have read my mind because she answered the question.

"We won't let you," she told me.

"… But Gibson said-,"

She cut me off, putting a finger to my lips.

"Ignore his prediction."

"Who's 'we'?"

"Me, Otto, Sprx, Gibson… and Antauri. Chiro, we aren't going to let you leave this world no matter what we have to do," she said.

"So when will I recover?"

"A week later, or maybe six days later, if we're lucky, that is."

"But I'll be in the grave a week later!"

"No one is going to dig your grave, so relax, Chi. Everything will be fine, I swear,"

I drew in a deep breath and let it out, thinking over what we had just said.

"Chiro, chill, will you? The monkey team won't let the god of death claim your life and soul." Nova said, patting me shoulder. "Just you wait; it'll all be fine in the end."

I nodded and watch Nova exit the room. Did she say that for my sake, or did she say it because it was the truth? As much as I wanted to believe her, another part of me told me that it was just a lie, not a fact. But Nova wouldn't lie to me… would she…?


	6. The first task and the gun

Skater：Sorry the late update! I know that this is none of my business, but did you all have a good Christmas? Oh, and I forgot.. I got inspired by a movie so I wrote this, but the title isn't the same.

Chiro: Please review!

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Surprisingly, the hours went by quickly, but I couldn't sleep. I was too worried about Chiro and the others. Suppose SK was planning to attack Shuggazoom these few days, with Chiro in such a weak condition? Suppose he used me to find out the secrets to defeat the robot? Suppose SK didn't keep his promise and let Chiro die before the monkey team's eyes? No, that wouldn't happen, not on my watch, but then again, there were possibilities...

First, I got to clear these doubts from my mind to keep calm.

Never again will I let my guard down and let the monkey team suffer like this. They weren't the ones who deserved it. They do their best to protect...

"Oh well, look who's awake."

A figure of a skeleton stood by the door, and behind him, I could see several chairs and a dining table, all set. Forcing the words out of myself, I said,

"Good morning, master,"

SK chuckled quietly, grinning to himself.

"How cute. Follow me,"

He held out a finger to beckon me, and I did as he asked. Silently, I walked behind him until we reached a dining table with a fancy cloth spread over it. It was all so different from yesterday, so different that I couldn't stop myself from looking surprised.

"Hell is not how humans imagine," SK explained, as if he read my mind. "It does not have fire all over the place. What you saw yesterday was a different part of hell, where the most evil souls burn, their screams echoing in the darkness of the void. This part of hell is where the death gods have their meetings, thinking of new punishments to punish those who deserve it, like for example..." he paused for a moment, thinking. "Jack the ripper. He murdered countless number of people when he was alive, not because he hated them. He didn't have a motive for killing and look where he is now."

SK held out a globe and a tortured man's screams were heard. They were the most terrifying sounds.

"Oh, and before I forget," the villain said, bent down beside Antauri, and snapped his fingers. "This is to ensure that you don't break our deal. You cannot communicate with anybody now, with or without the power primate. "

Mandarin walked into the room, and bowed.

"My lord, it is time," he said.

"Bring them in here, Mandarin," SK ordered.

The orange monkey was about to open the door when SK stopped him.

"Or rather, you open the door, Antauri, as your first task. Invite them in and put the cards on each of the chairs, so they'll know where to seat. Mandarin, go prepare the vampire's blood for them," the villain commanded.

"Yes, master," I said.

I took the cards from him and placed it on the chairs. Their names were something like Yohan, Slogaan and Lucifer. But of course there were more than 3 guests.

"OPEN UP THE DOOR!" One of them roared as SK took his place on his seat. I hurried and opened the door.

Creatures at about SK's height loomed above me.

"How dare you keep your boss waiting!"

That was when one of them noticed me.

"Hey, there's something shiny over there! I think it's a jewel or something!" A creature said, picking me up. He had only one eye and was chubby. Carefully, he took a magnifying glass out and studied me, making a hmmm sound.

"Slogaan, hand that thing over to me, I wanna see it!"

"No way, Yohan!"

Before I knew it, they were fighting and soon, all of them were arguing.

"STOP!" Slogaan cried, holding his hand up like a stop sign. "Come closer and I'll squish it!"

"But we haven't even looked at it!" Another creature with a British accent said, folding his arms.

"The shiny thing is miiiiine!" Slogaan cried.

I sighed.

"Excuse me for interrupting," I said. "But I'm a monkey."

"That's great! I can use you for taking over Venus (let's just say there are aliens, even though they live on Venus)!" Yohan said, his eyes lighting up.

"Enough! He belongs to me! He's my pet!" SK boomed, standing up.

Everyone stared at him, amazed.

"Oh well," Slogaan said. "But can I try just one experiment on him? I've created a new gun which, of course, causes pain to spirits and it allows them to learn,"

He held out a ray gun of some sort and put me down.

"Stay there!" he commanded.

Then he pulled the trigger. A yellow beam shot out and it's power was incredible. There wasn't any feeling of burning. Just pain. I screamed. It was immense, and I believe any spirits who felt it have learnt their lesson. One more effect of the gun was that if it was used on any machine, the energy gets sucked out of you.

"Okay, now I see how this works," one creature commented.

After the yellow beam vanished, I felt tired. Tired to walk, let alone run. Panting, I leant against the wall and closed my eyes for a second. Then, the silver body deactivated.


	7. Hell is a maze and a villain returns

Skater: Happy New Year! Wish you all the best for year 2012! :) And I haven't watched SRMT in a while now, so if the monkeys say or do something out-of-character, feel free to flame me.

Chiro: Please review!

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"For heaven's sake, you are such a pain," Mandarin grumbled as he thrust the robot monkey charger into the back of his brother's head. A whirring sound was heard before the pupils of Antauri started appearing in the blue orbs.

"Where am I?" the silver monkey asked, turning his head around to find Mandarin wiping the charger with a cloth.

"Skeleton King is waiting for you on his throne, so go there quickly- he doesn't like to wait," Mandarin said, ignoring Antauri's question completely.

The silver monkey ran off, searching for the room with a throne. All he did was run forward, turned left/right a couple of times, and now, he was surrounded by millions of rooms. Sensing that he was going the wrong direction, Antauri ran back to where he came from. But after running for quite some time, everything still looked the same, as if he never left that spot when he started running back. Thus, the silver monkey concluded this:

He was lost.

Of course, Antauri had strong navigation skills, but this was a completely different matter. This was hell, and hell was a maze. Sure, there were certain mazes for training in the Veran Mystics (or however you spell it), but now, all Antauri had to do was go forward, and the turns had disappeared. There was only one direction: forward. And there was no dead end to it. Plus, the millions of rooms were no help at all. He did open the door to some of the rooms, and he did see some horrible things in there, but none of the talking dead would tell him where SK's throne was. To add salt to the wound, his powers were gone.

"Ahh, I figured that you would be here,"

A shape of a skeleton slowly made its way to Antauri. "Come quickly, before I lose my patience,"

"Yes, master,"

Obediently, the silver monkey followed SK. After walking for what seemed like an hour or two, the villain stopped at a random door, opened it, and lo and behold, a throne made of gold was in front of Antauri, shining. It must have been worth millions of dollars.

"Where-?"

"Quiet, pet! You do NOT question the master, do you understand?" SK snapped.

"Yes, master," Antauri replied quietly.

"Now," SK said, waving his staff in the air, and after that, a 'click' sound was heard, "here is the list of chores you must complete by tomorrow, including preparing the food for very important guests tomorrow,"

The skeleton handed Antauri a list about one meter long, with illegible handwriting, but if you looked very carefully, you could read it and figure out what SK wrote. After all, how neat can a skeleton write?

"Yes, master, I will get this done by tomorrow," the silver monkey bowed and walked out of the room

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"Gibson! Why is your lab covered in smoke when Otto hasn't gone in?" Nova said, watching a grey-furred monkey stumbling out of the lab.

"Let me explain it in a very simple way. I've created an antidote for Chiro's sickness-"

Otto, who just coincidently happened to be passing by, heard his blue companion, and shouted,

"Yay!"

"It only cures him for a short moment of time."

Otto's enthusiasm faded a little, but a short time was better than nothing, right?

"How long does it last?" Nova asked, playing with her fingers nervously.

"About 1-2 hours."

"Do ya wanna give it to him now?" Otto asked.

"I think the best time to give it to him is when Chiro needs to protect himself." Gibson replied.

"I agree," Nova said, crossing her arms. "And I think it's best to tell Chiro the truth because, well, the replacement monkey isn't working out."

"I can fix it!" Otto volunteered.

"There's no need to. But do you think it's best to tell him the truth in this condition? He will definitely search for him," Gibson stated. "I suggest we don't use the replacement, but we don't tell him the truth either,"

Nova thought about it for a minute, and nodded. Then the alarm was starting to ring, and once again, flooding the robot with red light.

"Warning," the robotic lady voice said. "Intruder in the robot."

The 3 monkeys ran to the Command Centre and located where the intruder was.

"Wait, guys!," Otto shouted when Nova and Gibson sped off. "He's in the kitchen now!"

The green monkey pointed to the red dot on the screen.

"That's impossible!" Gibson cried. "He can't be! The distance is too far away!"

"Whatever the reason, I say we find out how he does that after we find him," Nova said. "Let's go!"

When those three monkeys were reaching their destination, they heard Sprx yell, "Holy Shuggazoom! It's Gyrus Krinkle!"

Then there was a white light. And everything became black.


	8. The false truth

Skater: Hi! Sorry for the late update! Being in Grade 7 sure is tough when you have to wake up so early in the morning when the rest of the world is sleeping. I hate mornings. Anyway, here is chapter... chapter... I forgot which chapter this is, maybe chapter 7 or 8 something.

Chiro: Please review!

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"Who broke the light bulbs?" Otto yelled through the darkness, trying to find his teammates by activating the torch on his helmet. "Nova? Gibson? Sprx? "

"Gosh, you're so loud, Otto," the red monkey complained, groaning a little as he tried to stand up. "Try to lower your voice a little,"

Another beam of light penetrated through the darkness, revealing the color of red fur from it's owner.

"I'm afraid Otto's voice is the least of our worries," Gibson stated, activating his torch, followed by Nova's. "The light bulb is permanently damaged. And Krinkle seems to have disappeared,"

A cackle sliced through the air right after Gibson said that. Wait, let me be more specific: A _crazed _cackle sliced through the air, followed by a sound of something metal hitting the floor twice. Light flooded the room, and the source of light was temporarily unknown.

"Oh, no, you're wrong, Gibson," Krinkle said, grinning. Apparently, the word "Krinkle" and "nut" came together in a sentence. "I'm still here,"

"How-"

"Never mind me, nothing's happened to your _oh, so precious _Chiro. I have no intention of hurting him,"

Otto started to look relieved when-

"But!" Krinkle continued, "if you don't obey my command, I will harm him in the most unimaginable ways. So, if you don't want anything to-"

"Monkey Team?"

Staggering into the room was a weak and a (sort of) defenseless teenager. And at the sight of his old nemesis, Chiro's eyes widened in shock.

"I thought-"

"Yea, yea, yea," Krinkle rolled his eyes, sighing, "you're wondering how I got out of my own mind. It's simple, you know. It _is_ my mind, after all. I think it, and I have it. I think I'm in the real world, and there ya have it, a Krinkle that used a clever method to escape. It IS that simple, you know,"

"Oh,"' was Otto's simple response. "I see."

"Whatever the reason," Nova activated her fists, "you're going back to where you came from, and I'm going to make sure that you NEVER, EVER come back!"

The golden monkey charged forward, planning to smash her fist smack into the middle of his face. However, she didn't make it to her destination. Krinkle activated some kind of shield, and Nova bumped into it. Then, she wrapped her arms around herself, teeth chattering.

"I-it's s-so co-cold," she said, falling to the ground.

"Impressed? It took me months to learn that method!" the maniac bragged, unaware that Sprx had come charging towards him.

"Magno Ball Blazer!"

The red ball did its job. Soon, metal was torn off from the walls and Krinkle went out of sight, engulfed by the numerous amount of metals.

"We did it!" the red monkey cheered, hi-fiving Otto.

The victory was short lived, however. A green light was seen, and metals were thrown off to every direction, with Gibson barely dodging one.

"Ha! Such a pathetic attack won't stop me! I'm powerful, I'm stronger! And guess what?" Krinkle's eyes shone green all of a sudden. Otto gasped, and Sprx helped Nova up.

"You-you have the..." Gibson stuttered, unable to believe what he was seeing in front of his eyes.

"Yes! I have the Power Primate!" Krinkle declared.

"How?" Otto asked.

However, the green primate's answer was ignored as Krinkle shot out a bright green beam from his hand, hitting Otto. He was thrown back and he hit the wall, hard. So hard that it created a deep dent.

"Otto!" Gibson gasped, activating his drills as Chiro rushed to Otto's aid.

"Laser Lash Drills!"

The blue monkey was faster than Krinkle expected. The crazed villain barely dodged Gibson's attack. Out of rage, Krinkle punched the simian in the stomach, weakening him.

"Okay, now you've got me mad!" Sprx growled. "Magnet Tingler Blast!"

Swiftly, the villain dodged his opponent's attack, grinning.

"As expected from you, Sprx. Impressive, I must say, but not good enough,"

Krinkle aimed a kick to Sprx's chest, so powerful that the red simian was flying back, landing a few centimeters away from Otto.

"Monkey Team!" Chiro cried, coughing in the process. His eyes filled with tears temporarily, than he realized that that was not a moment to cry.

"Antauri!" the teen shouted, calling for the missing member. "Antauri! Where are you?"

"Aww, how cute, calling for help like a lost puppy," Krinkle said with a tone that irritated Chiro.

"What do you want from the monkey team?" the teen growled.

"Revenge, duh, isn't it obvious? And secondly, I noticed, that something I want is not here,"

"What is it?"

"I want your precious so called father,"

"What? What do you want with him?"

"That's a secret. And don't you even know where he is?"

"...Not really,"

"Think about it: You are sick, such a pain in the neck, a slow learner, an addict to video games which Antauri doesn't approve of, a failure at protecting Shuggazoom, and you even let him die once without doing anything about it. I mean, you just watched him levitate off the edge and into the Dark One's egg, and without his help, you wouldn't even resurrect him, plus, you even lost faith in him at the last minute when you were carried and Gibson told you that Antauri was gone. And don't even get me started on how you always get into trouble and rely on the team to rescue you, how you didn't do anything to save him when the probe was about to uncover the robot's secrets by tearing your silver companion apart (well, sort of, I think). Heck, you are so naive that you accepted my birthday gift to you without suspecting that a mysterious toy was placed outside the robot with no sender. That was seriously pathetic, and I didn't even think that you would accept that gift in the first place."

"I-I I didn't mean to-"

"Well, yea, your intentions are good, but your actions always, and I mean always, cause the team trouble. It's irritating, you know, even for the most patient people."

"But-"

Hmm, look at the time. Gotta go do some more training at that shiny, crystal place. And remember, boy, I'll be back,"

Chiro stared at Krinkle who teleported away in a flash. Then he knelt down, at the brink of crying out loud.

"I'm a pain..." he whispered. Somehow, the villain's words had a deeeeeeep impact on him, and the brave boy he usually was transformed into a scared one.

"Doesn't t-that mean that... " Chiro gulped as he thought of the only possible and logical conclusion. "I-I-I-I've caused him so much trouble that he r-ran away?"

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Somewhere in hell, the silver simian who was carrying a tray of expensive teacups (and don't even get me started where SK got them) felt the sudden intense pain in his chest and swallowed the shout that was making its way up his throat, so as to not attract attention to himself. (I mean, even the most careful person that suddenly has a very sharp pain in knee will drop what he is carrying, right?) He squeezed his eyes tight, hoping the terrible feeling and pain would go away quickly.

That feeling he was feeling was so rare, something Antauri was not used to... it was as if someone's Power Primate was fading away at a steady speed. And the decreasing hope inside that person did not make things easier.


	9. Cold

Skater: Hi! This chapter may be a bit short and very pathetic, so please excuse me. Both reviews and flames are welcomed! (For the story, I mean, not for the chapter.) Anyway, hope you enjoy it!

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"Go in there, pet, and come out when I ask you to!"

"... Yes, master,"

SK then turned to his companion beside him, who was seated in front of the temperature room, testing the controls. After pressing and pulling some levers and buttons, SK's companion turned his swivel chair around and gave SK a thumbs up.

"Ya sure ya wanna do this? The temperature can go quite low, ya know?"

"Yes, let's get it done immediately, Pan," SK replied impatiently. "Do it now!"

"All right, all right," Pan sighed, "sheesh. Don't needa be so moody all the time. So, how low do ya want the temperature to go?"

"Minus fifty degrees,"

"THAT low?" Pan exclaimed. "Wow, ya have no mercy at all."

"Well, someone can't go unpunished after breaking those cups. I still have a fortune to pay back to that rich freshmen demon that just came!"

Nodding, Pan turned to the controls and set the temperature down to below fifty degrees.

"It'll take a while for things to get chilly," the demon said, pointing to the room inside. "And I don't know how badly that pet of yours can take it. Seriously, ya gotta start showing some pity for 'im. Machines feel cold to, ya know?"

"Whatever. Just hand over that chain,"

"Fine."

The skeleton snatched the handcuff that Pan handed over to him. He walked inside, chained Antauri to a pole and walked out. For all this while, the silver simian was quiet, and SK definitely noticed it. Not that the villain himself cared, but he couldn't help notice. Really, it was annoying. Just one tiny, small, super tiny part of him actually felt pity.

'Damn. I hate the Alchemist. I hate the human inside of me. Wait... there is no human inside of me. He's gone. That pathetic human is gone for good. He doesn't exist anymore. He-'

SK's thoughts were interrupted as Pan tapped him on the arm, and pointed to the silver monkey sitting down in the cold room. Antauri's head was resting on his knees, with one hand still chained up to the pole. His other arm was wrapped around his legs. Visible signs of shivering were shown as Antauri stared down at the ground, somewhat deep in thought.

"Lower." SK whispered.

"What?"

"Lower!"

"Oh."

Pan lowered the temperature some more, to minus seventy degrees. Antauri took quick notice of the sudden drop in temperature and looked at the two beings outside the room, trying to read their expressions. The one sitting down beside SK was definitely looking back at him in pity. SK's face was blank.

The silver monkey wrapped his tail around his mechanical body, shivering more. He couldn't stand the intense cold anymore. But he was doing it for the monkey team, for Chiro, for Nova, Sprx, Otto and Gibson. He couldn't give in to the cold when the rest of the team was working hard to fix the robot and take care of Chiro. He couldn't give in when Chiro was fighting with the illness he was infected with everyday. Antauri filled his minds with endless questions on how the monkey team was doing. If there were any villains that attacked Shuggazoom. If Gibson's statement about Chiro dying was wrong. If the team had already found an antidote. If Chiro was alright. And the pain he felt while carrying the cups. If...

Everything became blurry all of a sudden. Uh oh.

'Stay awake! Stay awake!' The silver monkey reminded himself. But his body wouldn't obey his command. 'Stay awake! For the monkey team! For the antidote to cure Chiro!'

"Five, four, three, two, one. That's it, turn off the machine," SK's muffled voice ordered.

Pan pressed the red button in the middle of the controller. The machine stopped working and Pan opened the door to the temperature room. SK walked in and unchained Antauri. The primate tried to stand up and walk, but his legs gave way and fell to the ground again. Shakily, Antauri leaned against the cold pole and used it for support. But once he took his first step, his legs wouldn't stop shivering and he fell again.

"You should help him," Pan mouthed through the glass. "And hurry!"

Sighing, SK carried... wait, carried isn't the right word. SK took him by the arm and lifted the primate off the ground as if he was a feather and walked out. The villain headed to Antauri's room and threw him inside.

"Get some rest, you filthy primate, because tomorrow is going to be a big day."

A wave of fatigue washed over Antauri from working and being snatched by several demons that came to visit SK. The silver monkey simply passed out on the ground before even trying to walk to what SK called a bed.

And somewhere in the robot, Chiro was having nightmares that he didn't want to have.


	10. The truth doesn't hurt for once

Skater: I hate home economics! Hate it! Haaaaate it!

Chiro: You burnt the whole pot. And the home ec poster you're doing had to be edited four times.

Skater: Whatever. Anyway, here's chapter 10! It's about Chiro, btw. And when is seven days gonna be over? Well, I have no idea, I lost count of the number of days. Anyway, please review!

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After what Krinkle told him, Chiro told himself to get a grip and pull himself together. Though somewhere in his brain, a voice told him that Krinkle was right. Ignoring that voice, the teen carried the deactivated monkeys to the sick bay, laying each of them on different tables. He placed one spare energy cell into each of them and reactivated Nova first, followed by Sprx, Gibson and Otto.

"Uhhh..." Nova groaned. "Something hit me,"

"Speak for yourself," Sprx said weakly, rubbing his head. "I feel like I've been hit by a meteor."

"Chiro?" Otto said when he saw the teen. "It's okay, leave the repairs to us."

"Agreed," Gibson added. "You can't continue to worsen your condition by tiring yourself out,"

"But..." the teen protested.

"Kid, it's okay, just some basic injuries that we can't handle by ourselves," Sprx stated, shooting Chiro a reassuring smile, hoping that it would convince the boy.

Seeing that it was pointless to argue, Chiro sighed, defeated.

"Fine..."

Walking out of the room, Chiro made his way to his room. He changed into his pajamas, deciding that it was time to sleep anyway. After all, it was ten at night. The teen laid on his bed, thinking.

'Does the monkey team know about the reason? If they don't, then why didn't they look for him? Maybe they do know, but they're hiding it for me? Because of my condition? Is it sympathy? Maybe they're gonna tell me after I get well. Does everything I do cause them trouble? After all, I did wake up Mandarin.'

These questions just ran around in my head, and the more I repeated them, the possibility of the monkey team hating me became higher. I cried that night. I screamed into my pillow in frustration. I hated myself and my fate. I hated Krinkle for telling me that. I hated to be the Chosen One. If I hadn't been chosen in the first place, none of this would've happened. I wouldn't have met the monkey team, I'd live the life of a normal teenager. I wouldn't have met Mandarin or Valina. I wouldn't be facing this problem right now. I-I...'

Chiro's eyelids became heavier as every second passed. Finally, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, his pillow damp with tears.

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"Ya done, Gibson?"

"Would you please be patient, Sprx?"

"You're the one who said this was simple!"

"I didn't say that it wasn't time consuming, though!"

The red monkey became quiet. For once, Brain Strain did have a point.

"You know," Nova said, breaking the silence. "I'm worried about Chiro."

"We all are," Otto replied softly. "How many days has it been?"

"About 5, I think," Sprx answered. "There's two more days to go, excluding today,"

"I'm not sure if we can hold back the truth for long," Gibson piped in. "I do believe that I heard Chiro mumbling something about Antauri leaving him."

"I heard it too!" Nova said, thinking thoughtfully. "I think Krinkle fed him with false information,"

"So what're we gonna do now?" Otto asked.

"Let's see how things go. There should be a change in Chiro's behavior." Gibson said.

The team nodded.

"I'll go check up on the kid," Sprx offered.

The red monkey left and headed towards Chiro's room. The moment he entered, the teen was already wide awake from the nightmares he had.

"Why did Antauri leave, Sprx?" Chiro whispered softly, his back facing the red monkey.

Startled by the question, Sprx paused for a moment.

"He will be back soon, kid, it's only temporary," the pilot replied.

"Really? You haven't heard from him, have you?" A cough. "I want the truth. If he did leave temporarily, he would've contacted you or something."

"Chiro, you don't have to worry. Antauri is-"

"You're hiding something from me! I'm sick of it! For the last four days, you've been creating excuses every time I ask you where Antauri is!" Another cough, then his voice started shaking. "I w-want to know where he went. If he'll come back."

"You really wanna know the truth, kid? You want the good news or the bad news first?"

"The good news."

"You'll be cured soon."

"And the bad one?"

"Antauri went to hell to get the antidote for you."

"..."

A long pause.

"Kid, you okay?"

"Y-you mean he didn't run away?"

"What in Shuggazoom nailed that idea into your head?"

"Krinkle."

"You actually believed that nut? Please, Chiro. Don't let that false information get into your head."

Chiro got up from bed.

"How long would it take?" The teen asked. "Is there any way to-"

"Look, kid, nothing bad is gonna happen to your second in command. So there's no need to worry."

"Really?"

"Sure, just go to sleep now, okay? You can trust me, kid,"

Sprx left, opened the door to Chiro's bedroom, and three other monkeys pounded on him, and dragged him away.


	11. 48 hour difference, the antidote is gone

Skater: Well, here's another chapter, hope you enjoy! Sorry it took so long, really. I've been busy with school and stuff. Anyway, please read on! :)

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It's only been the third day. The rules here were tough. One mistake and no mercy. At all. Waking up at five in the morning, Antauri reported to where he was supposed to be everyday to get his list of chores.

"Here," SK said, handing him a piece of paper. "Do it properly and do it in time! By 10, I want you to finish them and prepare the table for the freshmen to arrive."

"Yes, master,"

"And report to the dining room after you've finished! I want no mistakes at all, understand?"

"Yes, master,"

"Good," SK grinned. "You are free to go now,"

The silver monkey walked out, trying to read the poorly written letters on that faded piece of paper. Finally, he made out the letters m, a, s, t, e, and r. The master room, of course. After making a few turns in the maze, Antauri reached a wooden door and turned the dusty, rusted silver knob. As the door swished open, creaks could be heard and there were cobwebs everywhere. The silver monkey searched for the light switch and turned the light on. The light from the bulb was weak, but enough for him to see the contents inside the room. Books were strewn everywhere and the shelves were not nailed to the wall. He had no idea why SK called it the master room when it was full of books.

First, Antauri arranged the books alphabetical in order. Then he separated fiction from non-fiction, as stated in the list. After that, he nailed the shelves to the wall, making sure not too much noise was made. Next, he carefully placed the fiction books on the first three shelves. After he was done with that, he found a rusty old ladder in one dark corner of the room and climbed on it... until the legs of the ladder gave way and everything collapsed. The book Antauri was holding slipped out of his grip too, and opened up. The silver monkey was about to pick it up when he saw the page.

_THE TIME IN HELL._

_THE TIME IN HELL AND TIME IN THE UNIVERSE HAS A 48 HOUR DIFFERENCE. _

Something in Antauri clicked. So that's why SK had 'kindly' decided to give him the antidote in seven days. Because by the seventh day in hell, it'd already be the ninth day on Earth. And by the ninth day, the poison would already have killed Chiro. So that means, by the fifth day, Antauri would have to get the antidote back and heal him. Quickly, he fixed the ladder, arranged the books and ran out of the room, moving on to his next chore. After much cleaning, re-arranging and some decorating, the silver primate reached the dining room, spread a white table cloth over the long glossy glass-made table and made sure everything was clean.

"My, my, my, working hard, aren't you?"

Antauri turned around and found Mandarin leaning against a wall, smirking, his arms crossed.

"I guess you've already found out about the time difference," the orange simian said and shrugged. "That's pitiful. The master has already made plans for you. You do not have to worry one bit about your precious 'chosen one'. The poison will corrupt his body bit by bit, and our brothers can't do anything about it except watch helplessly as Chiro dies slowly and painfully."

"You promised! You promised that he wouldn't die!"

"Oh no, Antauri. I promised to give you the antidote after you stayed in hell for seven days. I didn't guarantee that Chiro would live, did I?"

"You said that he'd be saved if I agreed,"

"Yes, he would," Mandarin grinned. "He would be saved from his suffering!"

The silver monkey stood in front of Mandarin and avoided eye contact with him by looking at the marble flooring. The awkward silence hung between the two. Mandarin waited impatiently for Antauri's reaction, though he didn't show it on his face. The silver monkey made the first move. He went back to do his chores. He lined the glass cups in front of each chair neatly, then filled them with green liquid.

"That's it?" Mandarin asked finally, staring at his former brother. "That's it? Aren't you going to say anything?"

"Yes, although..."

"Just spit it out already!"

"I would like to ask for the antidote early to save Chiro's life."

"That can be made. However, there's one condition: You have to catch me."

Antauri blinked at the childish challenge before recovering from his state of momentary shock. Mandarin dashed off, holding the bottle with purple liquid in hand. The silver simian ran after him on all fours.

Antauri was so absorbed in chasing Mandarin he didn't notice his surroundings change. The doors in the maze changed to trees and plants. The ground turned soft. The air became richer in oxygen. Flowers of all sorts appeared. The soft trickling of water could be heard coming from a distance. Mandarin continued to run forward. Antauri was close to catching him until...

"Stop!"

The orange primate halted, panting heavily. He held up the antidote.

"One more step forward," he said, "and I'll drop this."

Antauri realized that they were at an edge of a waterfall. The rushing of the clear liquid was deafening. He looked up at the sun, reading the time. Eight-thirty am. The silver monkey stared at Mandarin, debating on what he could do next. While he was deep in thought...

A bird swooped down from the sky, circling around the orange primate without warning.

"Kyyyaaaaaaahhhhh!:

Deeply affected and startled by the huge bird, Mandarin dropped the antidote into the water below.


End file.
